A discussion of the historical trajectory informing the current polycrisis reverberating from the Strait of Hormuz with two historians of Iranian Oil, authors of "Nationalising Oil & Knowledge in Iran" (Edinburgh UP, 2025) and "Machineries of Oil" (MIT Press, 2018).

Cast (in order of appearance): Matt Seybold, Katayoun Shafiee, and Mattin Biglari

Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby

For more about this episode, please visit TheAmericanVandal.substack.com

Two events organized by the Center For Mark Twain Studies focus on the complex legacy of Mark Twain and the omissions and misrepresentations of his wife, Olivia Langdon Clemens, and extended family.

Cast (in order of appearance): Matt Seybold, Ann Ryan, Kerry Driscoll, Barbara Snedecor, Chuck Lindsay

Dates Recorded: October 16, 2025 and November 30, 2023

Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby

For more about this episode, please visit TheAmericanVandal.substack.com

A live crossover podcasting event with the This Guy Sucked podcast, hosted at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The question is not only whether and how much Mark Twain might have sucked, but also the potential for Twain's complex legacy to be altered by politics, propaganda, education, and scholarship.

Cast (in order of appearance): Matt Seybold, Claire Aubin, Erin Bartram

Date Recorded: May 6, 2026

Music: Danny Weiss Quartet

For more about this episode, please visit ThisGuySucked.com or TheAmericanVandal.substack.com

As part of the Spring Symposium at the Wake Forest Humanities Institute, Matt Seybold discusses the present and future of AI speculation, including an extended discussion with Wake Forest faculty.

Cast (in order of appearance): Jennifer Greiman, Matt Seybold, Derek Lee, Michaela Appeltova, Nisrine Rahal, Barry Trachtenberg, Jeff Bills-Solomon, Dean Franco, Amanda Gengler

Date Recorded: April 29, 2026

Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby

A discussion of the forthcoming book "Muskism: A Guild For The Perplexed" with its authors. Topics includes Muskism as the antidote to Musk Fatique, methods of historical research under threat of enshittification, the cultural imaginary of Elon Musk and Grok, satellite data centers, and more.

Date Recorded: April 1, 2026

Music: Redd Holt & The Heptet

TheAmericanVandal.Substack.com

Opens with Matt Seybold's short history of Instructure, the makers of Canvas LMS, with special emphasis on its acquisition by Dragoneer and KKR in 2024. This talk was delivered at Utah Valley University, with supplemental recording from University of Albany. The second half of the episode features a conversation with UVU faculty and students about the impact of the Generative AI boom on their institution.

Cast (in order of appearance): Matt Seybold, Christa Albrecht-Crane, Angie McKinnon Carter, Chiler Moore

Date Recorded: March 3, 2026

Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby

From the Close Reading For The 21st Century Symposium, hosted by Emory University. What are the challenges, strategies, and rewards for teaching close reading? What are the stakes of teaching close reading through the nightmare of the contemporary?

Cast (in order of appearance): Johanna Winant, Brian Glavey, Matt Seybold, Nathan Suhr-Sytsma, Lindsay Reckson, Christopher Spaide, Katie Kadue, Dan Sinykin, Jeff Dolven, John Lysaker, Omari Weekes, Patrick Sui, Oren Izenberg, Paul Buchholz, Farah Bakaari, Annie Abrams, Beci Carver

Date Recorded: November 7, 2025

Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby

TheAmericanVandal.Substack.com

From the Close Reading For The 21st Century Symposium, hosted by Emory University. Why is close reading best understood as a conversation? What are its evaluative standards? How does it extend the conversation beyond literary studies?

Cast (in order of appearance): Johanna Winant, Matt Seybold, Farah Bakaari, Nathan Suhr-Sytsma, Dan Sinykin, Kimberly Quiogue Andrews, Oren Izenberg, Beci Carver, Brian Glavey, Miranda Hickman, Patrick Sui, Jeff Dolven, Katie Kadue, Omari Weekes, Lisa Lee, Daniel Reynolds, Julie Orlemanski, Joshua Kotin

Date Recorded: November 7, 2025

Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby

Episode Webpage: TheAmericanVandal.Substack.com/Collarbone

The first of three episodes based on the "Close Reading For The 21st Century Symposium" hosted by Emory University. The symposium's opening address is followed by short provocations on "Freedom," "The Best," "Language," and "Difficulty," after which a there is a lengthy Q&A.

Cast (in order of appearance): Dan Sinykin, Matt Seybold, Johanna Winant, Beci Carver, Joshua Kotin, Julie Orlemanski, Omari Weekes, Anthony Cuda, John Lysaker, Dez Miller, Jeff Dolven, Oren Izenberg, Benjamin Reiss, Miranda Hickman, Emma Davenport, Farah Bakaari

Date Recorded: November 7, 2025

Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby

Episode Webpage: TheAmericanVandal.Substack.com/RedWheelbarrow

Hosted by the University of Illinois-Chicago United Faculty, a roundtable discussion about confronting the challenges facing higher education labor organizing. Topics included education technology, faculty autonomy, power mapping, board composition, lobbying state legislators, artificial intelligence, surveillance and data-mining, Ponzi austerity, and more.

Cast (in order of appearance): Jeff Kessler, Matt Seybold, Anna Kornbluh, Dominique Baker, Peter Coviello, Nassar Mufti, Jeff Edwards

Date Recorded: December 4, 2025

Music: Danny Weiss Quartet